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Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela Quotes

Former President of South Africa

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Famous Nelson Mandela Quotes

“The time will come when our nation will honour the memory of all the sons, the daughters, the mothers, the fathers, the youth and the children who, by their thoughts and deeds, gave us the right to assert with pride that we are South Africans, that we are Africans, and that we are citizens of the world.”

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Book:Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations
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“The majority of South Africans, black and white, recognize that apartheid has no future. It has to be ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security. The mass campaign of defiance and other actions of our organization and people can only culminate in the establishment of democracy.”

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“Sport has the power to inspire and unite people. In Africa, soccer enjoys great popularity and has a particular place in the hearts of people. That is why it is so important that the FIFA World Cup will, for the first time ever, be hosted on the African continent in 2010. We feel privileged and humbled that South Africa has been given this singular honour of being the African host country.”

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Author:Nelson Mandela
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“The first election in which all South Africans took part was in April, 1994. There were long queues [lines] of employers and employees, black and white. In the sense of Africans, Coloreds and Indians - when I talk about blacks, I mean those three. Blacks and whites mingled to vote without any hitches. Many people would have expected a great deal of tension, clashes and violence, but it did not occur.”

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Author:Nelson Mandela
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“I've found that South Africa has produced good leaders. These are people who realize that when there is danger, they should be in the forefront and when there is victory to be celebrated, they should be in the background, allowing their colleagues and the ordinary civilians - the man in the street - to rejoice and to celebrate that victory.”

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“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

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Author:Nelson Mandela
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“After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”

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Author:Nelson Mandela
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“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”

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Book:Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations
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“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

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Author:Nelson Mandela
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“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

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Author:Nelson Mandela
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“I had no epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth, but a steady accumulation of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities and a thousand unremembered moments produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people. There was no particular day on which I said, Henceforth I will devote myself to the liberation of my people; instead, I simply found myself doing so, and could not do otherwise.”

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Author:Nelson Mandela
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“Love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

LifeHumansHeartHateRacismHatredOppositesI HateDiscriminationHatedSouth AfricaHuman HeartLove HateApartheidHuman DignityLove And HateAnti RacismLearning To LoveLong WalksLong Walk To FreedomEducation And FreedomPeace HarmonyPeace And ToleranceAnti DiscriminationInspirational FreedomHated LoveHate GodDiscrimination And RacismEnding RacismNatural LoveAgainst RacismJustice And Love
Author:Nelson Mandela
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“Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country, he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity.”

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Author:Nelson Mandela
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“Friends, Comrades and fellow South Africans. I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all. I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.”

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Author:Nelson Mandela
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“We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign.”

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Author:Nelson Mandela
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“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion.”

PersonsWisdomHateBornRacismHatredSkinsI HateBackgroundsDiscriminationHatedColourSouth AfricaHuman HeartApartheidHate HimAnti RacismLearning To LoveLong Walk To FreedomEducation And FreedomPeace HarmonyPeace And ToleranceAnti DiscriminationInspirational FreedomNo HateHate ReligionDiscrimination And RacismEnding RacismAgainst Racism
Author:Nelson Mandela
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“We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of the millions of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity — a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.”

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Author:Nelson Mandela
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“There is an absence of democratic accountability and control in every sphere of government and the state. To address this debilitating legacy requires determined action and a deep commitment to transforming our society from a crisis ridden present into something all South Africans can be truly proud of.”

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Author:Nelson Mandela
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“I hate racial discrimination most intensely and all its manifestations. I have fought all my life; I fight now, and will do so until the end of my days. Even although I now happen to be tried by one, whose opinion I hold in high esteem, I detest most violently the set-up that surrounds me here. It makes me feel that I am a Black man in a White man's court. This should not be I should feel perfectly at ease and at home with the assurance that I am being tried by a fellow South African, who does not regard me as an inferior, entitled to a special type of justice.”

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Book:We Accuse: The Trial of Nelson Mandela
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